This research will address the feasibility of enabling teachers at the high school and college levels to evaluate how well their students are learning via an automated analysis of data collected through technology-based instrumentation of their classrooms. The data will include audio/video collections on interactive class room behaviors, which are related to established performance markers. Results of data collections will be integrated into a DVD presentation that will produce feedback for the teacher for self-evaluation with the opportunity for self-improvement, or incorporation into guided coaching systems. The effort will build upon prior efforts from three different research communities: education, military intelligence, and Internet technology. This research will advance video processing that focuses on automated behavior pattern analysis related to a class room. It will also increase understanding of the relationship between previously developed manual class room observation metrics for helping teachers to improve and corresponding metrics gathered from an array of class room sensors. The conduct of this work will lead to identification of yet to be considered advances in the application of audio/video technology to classroom monitoring and teacher self improvement as well as the opening of innovative lines of research on classroom settings.
The proposed effort initiates a new and important research collaboration at the University of Virginia integrating the work of researchers who have been engaged in improving education at the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning and researchers who have been engaged in future applications of advanced wireless sensor technology at the Wireless Internet Center for Advanced Technology, an NSF sponsored Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. This collaboration is considered to be an important element in advancing the concept of technology-based class room evaluation. If successful, this effort will undoubtedly spawn a variety of opportunities for improvement of the initial concept and the corresponding development of new production systems.
